FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT FAMILY AFFAIR - PAGE 5

In the hierarchy of things Italy is celebrated for, and there's quite a few — food, football, fountains, Fellini, chapels and Leonardo da Vinci, Mascagni, Monica Bellucci and the mafia — fashion falls somewhere in the top five. Because in a country where footballers and police officers sport uniforms made by Armani, clothes are more than just the shirt on your back. It's accessible art, practically. As Claudio Grotto, founder and chairman, Grotto Spa, owner of the high-street denim fashion brand GAS, says, the Americans may have invented jeans, but the Italians provided the style and l'estitica.

NEW DELHI: The success of the pizza chains, the coffee bars and several desi restaurants notwithstanding, Indians are in for a new food culture, where all these big names and much more is available under one roof to cater to their tastebuds. Being called food courts, these are the latest in food culture to hit big Indian cities and metros and offer everything - from Chinese to Lebanese, Indian, Mughlai and even traditional foods. "Food courts are very common abroad, especially in Singapore, Malaysia and other tourist spaces.

In the 1991 movie Captain Prabhakaran , on the hunt for forest brigand Veerappan , Vijayakanth plays Special Task Force head. In one scene, a corrupt official challenges him and asks if he's a neighbour of Harishchandra, epitome of honesty. Vijayakanth's answer: "It's only now I know he's my neighbour". He then extols the virtues of honesty in public life. Cut to 2001. In film Narasimha, Vijayakanth is on a mission to foil a Pakistani plot to execute the three Indian armed forces chiefs.

India's A-list corporate law firms are in the middle of a big churn. Founders are making way for managerial talent and soft skills like networking are now as important as knowledge of law. "There were only two ways to survive - remain small and beautiful or become a large professional firm," says Haigreve Khaitan, managing partner of Khaitan and Co , a 100-year-old law firm started by his great-uncle Debi Prasad Khaitan in Kolkata....

NEW DELHI: The confrontation between the ruling UPA and the Opposition intensified further in Parliament on Friday with the government rejecting the latter's demand for setting up a joint parliamentary committee (JPC), comprising members of all political parties, to study the Indo-US nuclear deal. Infuriated with the government's intransigence on the JPC demand, members of the NDA and the newly-formed UNPA held up proceedings in the two Houses. While no business could be transacted in the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha could resume proceedings only at 3.30 pm, the time slotted for private members' resolutions.

NEW DELHI: SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh seemed geared up for a knock-down-drag-out fight. While Mr Yadav appeared to be in a hurry to erase Mr Amar Singh from his party's collective memory ? "we look ahead and not think about the past" ? the former party general secretary hit back saying that he would prefer to be a "samajwadi" and not a "Mulayam-wadi". Mr Singh, who gave enough hints about his plans to take the fight against Mr Yadav to Uttar Pradesh, has already announced his participation in a Kshatriya Jagran Yatra.

NEW DELHI: Ties between the ruling UPA coalition and the Opposition came under further strain here on Wednesday when the latter, incensed by the government's rejection of its JPC demand, stalled proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament. With the two sides unrelenting, it seems unlikely that the two Houses would be able to transact any business on Thursday. The demand for setting up the JPC to study the implications of the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement came from the BJP-led NDA as soon as the two Houses assembled for the day. Terming the government's decision to set up a UPA-Left mechanism to examine the Indo-US nuclear deal as an "insult" to the Opposition and Parliament, BJP deputy leader in the Lok Sabha VK Malhotra reiterated the demand for setting up the JPC, comprising representatives of all leading parties.

NEW DELHI: Bura na mano, India Inc is not playing Holi dil se this year. It will be a quiet affair with just family and a few select friends. The tsunami is still haunting many corporate citizens and, as such, there will not be much of a celebration. Party throwers like V C Burman and Surinder Kapur have also decided to lie low on Holi with select friends for company. Of course, the Burmans are very particular about two things: no black and green colours and no wet colours please.

NEW DELHI: In a clear attempt to make things more difficult for the Manmohan Singh government, the NDA and the UNPA on Monday demanded the setting up of a joint parliamentary committee to study the provisions of the Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement and that the deal be put on hold till the panel came out with its report. The government, expectedly, rejected the demand, making it clear that efforts to stall discussions on the next two stages of the deal would not succeed.

"I am nothing without my dreams," says Sanjna Kapoor, "I can't function on status quo. " The dreams have only got bigger. Last year 560 performances were staged at Prithvi theatre and Kapoor, who has taken the annual Prithvi Theatre Festival from strength to strength, is in the midst of raising a formidable corpus fund. She's also at the threshold of what will no doubt be one of the most difficult stages of her association with Prithvi ? trying to keep away just enough to ensure that the theatre assumes a life beyond her. "I no longer want Prithvi to be seen as a family affair," says the daughter of Shashi Kapoor.